Raw_Nature "... I have a 5 tier shelf holding 70 seedlings each, right by a south facing window. Each tier gets about 12000 lumens, not including the sunlight..." I'd love to see your setup, any chance of posting a photo? Did you buy the whole thing as a single unit or is it your design? I think I would like to have something like that for next year, or, whenever." Sid: I bought everything separately.. I'm way to cheap to buy a "grow kit" that's probably inferior to what you could make half the price... i wouldnt say I put a patent on it, it's just shelfs with a light hanging from every tier.. The light is your basic four-light T8 shoplight, each t8 bulb produces a little under 3000 lumens each.. Now, I would take credit for this one: instead of using plain old solo cups that fall over and are a pain in the but, I used plain old storage/shoe bins, you know the plastic box that you buy at walmart,etc... I made sure the dimensions were divisible by whatever you plan on spacing your seedlings,(easier, cleaner,etc), wasn't to concerned about the depth, think it was 4-6" or something.. I marked the sides every three inches, so each bin would hold 35 seedlings space 3" centers... Plus you have all the root growth you wouldn't normally have.. With a little cheap seedling trays, they are normally 2" centers, plus there is only a pinch of soil in them.. In my containers you have tons of soil so the plants could get a huge rootmass.. Whenever you have to move it, you jus carry the bins, 35 seedlings at a time, no need to deal with clumsy solo cups that fall over! Real easy, and cheap! The mos expensive part was the light an the shelf... I'll try my luck at posting a picture... Joe

Alexa - I will step out on a limb and say I think $20 is a lot. By my math, and I am assuming a two income household, I think I'm being generous in estimating that to pay $20/hr - primarily aftertax money - the wife would have to make around $70k just to break even. How much above that it would take to make it worth her while to work would of course depend on household expenses, husband's income, willingness (desire?) to be free from the kid most of his/her waking hours. I think your baby-sitter stepped in you-know-what when she found her gig. I suspect that the teachers at my daycare would be thrilled to make $20/hr, and each of them deals with a minimum average of 4 kids apiece depending on age. And yes, I said teachers, not babysitters, as at all but the infant stage they have to follow a curriculum, not to mention the constant scrutiny of management, board of health, and (worst of all!) a constant flow of parents in and out. As for your babysitter, yeah diapers suck, for five minutes each a few times a day. Of those only one or two are a real drag. Errands and playdates - my guess is she looks forward to those.

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Ask around at your school and see what others get for babysitting. I would think between $5 and $10 an hour. That's a big responsibility and you'll work hard with toddlers - just ask their mom. The more you are expected to do, the more you should be paid. If you come over after the kids are asleep you might get paid at the lower end, but if you are expected to feed them a meal, play with them, get them ready for bed, put them to bed, clean up, etc, then you certainly deserve to get $10 an hour. Good luck